West Lothian racing driver reveals daily struggles after accident that ended his career
Dario Franchitti has revealed that he is still unable to walk properly when he first wakes up in the morning as a result of the high-speed accident that ended his career.
The West Lothian racing driver made headlines around the world after his horror IndyCar smash at the Houston Grand Prix in 2013. He fractured his spine, broke his ankle and suffered a concussion thanks to hitting the wall and flying into the safety fence at over 100mph.
It was the last time the four-time series champion and three-time winner of the famous Indianapolis 500 competed competitively. And the Bathgate-born ace admits that his life is still affected 12 years on from the shocking incident.
'I don't remember anything about it,' he told the Fuelling Around podcast. 'The last thing I remember is my friend Albert and his wife Hilary's wedding three weeks before. It's still a block. There's tiny little bits that have come back from the day. I was in the pick-up truck ready to do the parade lap and the driver shut the window on my hand and my fingers were in the bloody door.
'I remember the little earpieces you wear that have got G-sensors in them to measure how hard you hit your head if you crash. They had come disconnected and it was hitting me in the armpit and it was annoying me in the car. About a week later I remember flying to Indianapolis on a wee hospital plane but the best part of a month has just gone.
'I don't like to watch my accidents. I think I had actually retired before I watched the 2013 one. I was watching a documentary that they wanted me to proof and make sure it was all true. I saw the shunt and it made me go 'uuuuurgh, Jesus' and of course you go 'hang on' and then you wind it back and start watching and you can see the suspension of [Takuma] Sato's car break and all that stuff. But it was so long ago.
'It's funny, I think about it every morning. When I try and get up and I try to start walking in the morning, because the right ankle is all metal, I have to do a bit of a shuffle until everything gets warmed up. So I do think about it. But I am massively grateful, every day, because I've lost some great friends in this sport. It's definitely a double-edged sword.'
The 52-year-old joined old friend and fellow motorsport legend Jason Plato, one of the podcast's co-hosts, to chat about a range of motorsport and motoring topics during the near one-hour episode. He spoke about his admiration for the Isle of Man TT competitors and touched on his mental struggles after another major accident at Homestead, Miami, in 2000.
'I've always had a healthy respect for what we did,' he added on the award-winning show. 'I was a bit more risk adverse when I was younger. The shunt in 2000, I broke my pelvis and I mashed my brain up. That one took longer to get over, in fact I still suffer from the side effects of that one today. That one was probably the hardest one to get over, the fear of getting back in the car. Because my brain wasn't working at full strength anymore, I couldn't process the fear.
'As time went by, I just became less risk adverse and I was able to shut it out. Jackie Stewart would call it mind management and I became prepared to risk more than I ever thought I would. That crash was a cracker.'
After the crash on the final lap of the Grand Prix at NRG Park in Houston in October 2013, Franchitti moved home to Scotland to concentrate on his recovery. He had divorced from first wife Ashley Judd earlier in the year, although the couple remain good friends.
He has since married hedge fund executive Eleanor and they now have two children together. Doctors have cleared him to compete in amateur classic car events and he has also worked as a racing commentator and TV presenter.
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